Prosthetic leg to help pastor work more for the Lord’

Wednesday

Sep 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2009 at 8:00 PM

At 35, preacher Moncy Varghese had his right leg amputated above the knee because of a tumor. He was given a prosthetic leg in his home country of India in 2004, but it never fit quite right. Even when he used crutches, Varghese has fallen, and the ill-fitting prosthetic leg has limited his travel for his ministry with a Bible school. That all changed Monday.

Rebecca Croniser

At 35, preacher Moncy Varghese had his right leg amputated above the knee because of a tumor. He was given a prosthetic leg in his home country of India in 2004, but it never fit quite right — rubbing in the wrong places and putting pressure on areas that would turn red and sore.

Even when he used crutches, Varghese has fallen, and the ill-fitting prosthetic leg has limited his travel for his ministry with a Bible school.

That all changed with a visit to Yorkville, N.Y., on Monday.

A process that normally takes about two weeks was condensed into one day, and Varghese walked out of Empire Orthopedic Labs with a new customized prosthetic leg free of cost and a new hope for his future.

“I’ll be able to work more for the Lord,” Varghese said. “I can go out and visit people and travel to places I couldn’t before.”

Monday began with certified prosthetic and orthopedic practitioners Joshua Mullen and Robert Frank making a cast of Varghese’s leg.

They met Varghese for the first time Monday, and after hours of molding plastic to a form of his leg and putting together used parts for the base of the leg, they helped him take his first few steps in a prosthetic that was sculpted to fit him.

“It’s much better than what I had,” he said. “I couldn’t go and do all that I wanted to do with missions for the Lord.”

Improving quality of life

After looking at the old prosthetic, Mullen said Varghese’s quality of life definitely will improve. Mullen wears a prosthetic arm himself — he was born without his left arm.

“You can’t do a lot when a prosthetic doesn’t fit right and gives you a lot of pain and discomfort,” Mullen said. “A prosthetic shouldn’t hold them back.”

Varghese was given a custom-fitted leg of cloth, fiberglass and carbon, movable metal portions and a foot that can flex while he walks — all parts that will hold up well in his home state of Kerala in southern India.

“What we’re making him will give him a lot more strength and stability,” Mullen said. “We didn’t want to give him something state of the art with hydraulics, because when it goes out, he wouldn’t be able to repair it. It’s a pretty simple device that should last years and years.”

Mullen and Frank have worked on other charitable prosthetic projects together, including some at a prosthetic clinic in Ibarra, Ecuador, that Frank started. Mullen completed his residency under Frank almost a decade ago and just purchased Empire Orthopedic Labs in August.

Both men donated their time to help create Varghese’s leg, which would have cost approximately $10,500. Part of the cost of the parts will be reimbursed by the Barr Foundation, a non-profit group in Florida, while the remaining costs will be covered as a tax break.

‘A gift from God’

For Varghese, this process is a gift from God — one he never thought would happen.

Varghese traveled to New York City last month to speak at several Indian churches in the city.

At a speaking engagement at the India Pentecostal Assembly, Varghese met Babu Samuel, a church member. Samuel noticed Varghese struggling to get around and decided to make some calls to people he knew worked with prosthetics.

“If you can help someone, particularly if you’re able to, it’s really a great thing to do,” Samuel said.

Those calls didn’t pan out. He then began looking for non-profit groups that help provide prosthetics to people who cannot afford the cost.

The Barr Foundation agreed to work with Varghese, though executive director Eva Hughes said the group typically works with U.S. citizens. But Hughes said that Varghese’s story and Samuel’s promise to raise funds to help pay for a portion of the parts opened the door for Varghese.

“We want to help people who are not only going to benefit, but will go back into their community and give back to their community,” Hughes said.

The group worked with Frank in the past on his travels to Ecuador and was able to set up the procedure Monday — all of two weeks after Samuel first started making calls.

For his first prosthetic, he waited more than six months just to get measured and then given a generic piece to get around in.

Varghese will spend the next month in the United State before heading back to India in November.

He will meet with Frank before he goes home to make sure the prosthetic is continuing to fit well.

“I know that this is a gift from God and that he has provided so that I can better work for him,” Varghese said. “I am so grateful.”